Ibrahim Hooper, spokesperson for the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR) voiced objections to recent attacks by Fundamentalist Christian leaders
against Islam. He said: "We would call on elected leaders and religious
leaders to repudiate these kinds of comments. Time and again we see attacks on
Islam go unchallenged....We would call on President Bush to specifically
repudiate these attacks. Saying that Islam is a religion of peace is not enough.
These people respect President Bush and if he said: 'Knock it off, you're
setting up a civilizational conflict, which does nobody any good,' they would
listen."

Referring to a comment in 2002-OCT in which Jerry Falwell called the prophet
Mohammed a "terrorist," Hooper said: "It does incredible damage to
America's image in the Muslim world just at a time when we need allies in the
war on terrorism."

"Back in [2002] October the Rev. Jerry Falwell called Muhammad, the founder
of Islam, a terrorist. This set off riots in India and may have contributed to
the good showing of religious parties in the Pakistani election....the Rev. Pat
Robertson, the founder of the Christian Coalition...has conferred on Islam in
general the distinction of being worse than Hitler. 'Adolf Hitler was bad, but
what the Muslims want to do to the Jews is worse,' Robertson said recently. And
rather than apologize or retract in the manner of Falwell, Robertson went on
ABC's 'This Week' and repeated it all to George Stephanopoulos....Jews familiar
with history might note that from Spain to Baghdad, it was the Islamic world
that offered the Jews of the Middle Ages a fair degree of toleration -- not the
Christian West....To sweepingly liken a thousand-year religion of a billion
people to the ultimate in modern evil -- Hitler -- is reckless, ahistorical and
just plain insulting....Bush is in somewhat the same position as certain
political leaders in the Muslim world. He too is finding it awkward to deal with
crackpot religious leaders....But just as I and others have held certain Islamic
regimes -- Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc. -- responsible for the hate speech of
religious leaders, so will Bush be held responsible for the rantings of Falwell,
Robertson, Graham and others. After all, they are not peripheral figures. They
are now mainstream religious leaders, courted by political leaders of both
parties (especially the GOP) and treated with great, if undeserved,
respect....Bush has yet to denounce these preachers by name. But they all have
earned a personal rebuke....Falwell, Robertson and Graham are among the most
famous ministers of our time, replacing the learned and, yes, liberal ones who
offered the nation moral instruction during the civil rights era and the Vietnam
War. Now we have preachers who do not counsel toleration and understanding, but
a sort of bigotry -- an ugly and sweeping vilification of a whole people, in the
manner of the very Islamic radicals they condemn." 1

Some media outlets have speculated that President
Bush had not criticized Franklin Graham for his attacks on Islam because he is perceived in a very
positive light by many conservative Christians -- one group that gives Bush a
great deal of political support. Similarly, Bush could not criticize other
Fundamentalist Christian leaders without appearing to censure Graham. The
President had taken other positive actions. He visited a mosque shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks.
He
hosted a White House Iftar -- the meal which breaks a daily fast during the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan in early 2002-NOV. 2

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and other prominent
Islamic civil rights organizations, repeatedly asked President Bush to repudiate
rhetorical attacks on Islam by Fundamentalist religious leaders. 3
On 2002-NOV-13, President Bush met with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. The
President said: "Some of the comments that have been uttered about Islam do
not reflect the sentiments of my government or the sentiments of most Americans.
Islam, as practiced by the vast majority of people, is a peaceful religion, a
religion that respects others....By far, the vast majority of American citizens
respect the Islamic people and the Muslim faith. Ours is a country based upon
tolerance...And we're not going to let the war on terror or terrorists cause us
to change our values." The "diaper on their head and a fan-belt around
their waist" comment by Jimmy Swaggart three days earlier may have been the
deciding event that prompted President Bush to repudiate the remarks by
Fundamentalist leaders. But there are rumors from the usual anonymous White
House officials that the president's remarks were mainly triggered by Pat
Robertson's earlier comment that Muslims are "worse than Nazis."

CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper said: "It is encouraging to
hear President Bush address the issue of Islamophobic rhetoric in our society.
We hope the president's rejection of anti-Muslim hate speech will be followed by
similar statements from other elected officials and from mainstream religious
leaders." 4

Secretary of State Colin Powell, spoke to a gathering of businessmen at the
State Department, on 2002-NOV-14. Echoing President Bush's on the same day, he
said: "This kind of hatred must be rejected. We will reject the kinds of
comments you have seen recently where people in this country say that Muslims
are responsible for the killing of all Jews.''
He added that this kind of language "must be spoken out against. We cannot
allow this image to go forth of America, because it is an inaccurate image of
America." 5

The British newspaper, The Guardian, commented that the speeches by President
Bush and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell "appeared to be a coordinated
White House campaign to confront anti-Islamic rhetoric from a constituency that
includes some of the Bush administration's staunchest supporters." They
concluded that: "As the likelihood grows of a war in Iraq there are strategic
benefits for the White House in convincing Muslims that it would not be a war
against their religion. The administration's increased willingness to confront
the Christian right reflects the Republicans' sweeping victories in last week's
mid-term elections, reducing Mr. Bush's reliance on the extreme fringes of his
supporter base."6

There have been many pleas by Christian leaders
for tolerance, understanding, and a cessation of physical attacks on Muslims.
However, on the topic of verbal attacks on Islam and Muslims by Fundamentalist
Christian leaders, other Christian leaders seem to have reacted with silence.